Text Structure and Purpose (Level 3)
ID: ca50de52
“How lifelike are they?” Many computer animators prioritize this question as they strive to create ever more realistic
environments and lighting. Generally, while characters in computer-animated films appear highly exaggerated,
environments and lighting are carefully engineered to mimic reality. But some animators, such as Pixar’s Sanjay
Patel, are focused on a different question. Rather than asking first whether the environments and lighting they’re
creating are convincingly lifelike, Patel and others are asking whether these elements reflect their films’ unique
stories.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?
A. It reflects a primary goal that many computer animators have for certain components of the animations they
produce.
B. It represents a concern of computer animators who are more interested in creating unique backgrounds and
lighting effects than realistic ones.
C. It conveys the uncertainty among many computer animators about how to create realistic animations using current
technology.
D. It illustrates a reaction that audiences typically have to the appearance of characters created by computer
animators.
ID: 82cb7dda
The field of study called affective neuroscience seeks instinctive, physiological causes for feelings such as pleasure
or displeasure. Because these sensations are linked to a chemical component (for example, the release of the
neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain when one receives or expects a reward), they can be said to have a partly
physiological basis. These processes have been described in mammals, but Jingnan Huang and his colleagues have
recently observed that some behaviors of honeybees (such as foraging) are also motivated by a dopamine-based
signaling process.
What choice best describes the main purpose of the text?
A. It describes an experimental method of measuring the strength of physiological responses in humans.
B. It illustrates processes by which certain insects can express how they are feeling.
C. It summarizes a finding suggesting that some mechanisms in the brains of certain insects resemble mechanisms in
mammalian brains.
D. It presents research showing that certain insects and mammals behave similarly when there is a possibility of a
reward for their actions.
ID: d4732483
Studying late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artifacts from an agricultural and domestic site in Texas,
archaeologist Ayana O. Flewellen found that Black women employed as farm workers utilized hook-and-eye closures
to fasten their clothes at the waist, giving themselves a silhouette similar to the one that was popular in contemporary
fashion and typically achieved through more restrictive garments such as corsets. Flewellen argues that this sartorial
practice shows that these women balanced hegemonic ideals of femininity with the requirements of their physically
demanding occupation.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To describe an unexpected discovery that altered a researcher’s view of how rapidly fashions among Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas changed during the period
B. To discuss research that investigated the ways in which Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century Texas used fashion practices to resist traditional gender ideals
C. To evaluate a scholarly work that offers explanations for the impact of urban fashion ideals on Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas
D. To summarize the findings of a study that explored factors influencing a fashion practice among Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas
ID: e818241b
Astronomers are confident that the star Betelgeuse will eventually consume all the helium in its core and explode in a
supernova. They are much less confident, however, about when this will happen, since that depends on internal
characteristics of Betelgeuse that are largely unknown. Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance and colleagues
recently investigated whether acoustic waves in the star could be used to determine internal stellar states but
concluded that this method could not sufficiently reveal Betelgeuse’s internal characteristics to allow its evolutionary
state to be firmly fixed.
Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It describes a serious limitation of the method used by Nance and colleagues.
B. It presents the central finding reported by Nance and colleagues.
C. It identifies the problem that Nance and colleagues attempted to solve but did not.
D. It explains how the work of Nance and colleagues was received by others in the field.
ID: ac9a3a26
According to historian Vicki L. Ruiz, Mexican American women made crucial contributions to the labor movement
during World War II. At the time, food processing companies entered into contracts to supply United States armed
forces with canned goods. Increased production quotas conferred greater bargaining power on the companies’
employees, many of whom were Mexican American women: employees insisted on more favorable benefits, and
employers, who were anxious to fulfill the contracts, complied. Thus, labor activism became a platform for Mexican
American women to assert their agency.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It elaborates on a claim about labor relations in a particular industry made earlier in the text.
B. It offers an example of a trend in the World War II–era economy discussed earlier in the text.
C. It notes a possible exception to the historical narrative of labor activism sketched earlier in the text.
D. It provides further details about the identities of the workers discussed earlier in the text.
ID: 03c9f327
The following text is from Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Jane, the narrator, works as a governess at
Thornfield Hall.
I went on with my day’s business tranquilly; but ever and anon vague suggestions kept wandering across my brain of
reasons why I should quit Thornfield; and I kept involuntarily framing advertisements and pondering conjectures
about new situations: these thoughts I did not think to check; they might germinate and bear fruit if they could.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To convey a contrast between Jane’s outward calmness and internal restlessness
B. To emphasize Jane’s loyalty to the people she works for at Thornfield Hall
C. To demonstrate that Jane finds her situation both challenging and deeply fulfilling
D. To describe Jane’s determination to secure employment outside of Thornfield Hall
ID: b0f7541b
The following text is adapted from Herman Melville’s 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Humphry Davy was a
prominent British chemist and inventor.
Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain coxcombical
fellow, as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking about to the admiration of as
many as were disposed to admire. Great was the savant’s disdain; but, chancing ere long to find himself in a corner
with the jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when he was somewhat ill-prepared for the good sense of the
jackanapes, but was altogether thrown aback, upon subsequently being [informed that he was] no less a personage
than Sir Humphry Davy.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It portrays the thoughts of a character who is embarrassed about his own behavior.
B. It presents an account of a misunderstanding.
C. It offers a short history of how a person came to be famous.
D. It explains why one character dislikes another.
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Some studies have suggested that posture can influence cognition, but we should not overstate this phenomenon. A
case in point: In a 2014 study, Megan O’Brien and Alaa Ahmed had subjects stand or sit while making risky
simulated economic decisions. Standing is more physically unstable and cognitively demanding than sitting;
accordingly, O’Brien and Ahmed hypothesized that standing subjects would display more risk aversion during the
decision-making tasks than sitting subjects did, since they would want to avoid further feelings of discomfort and
complicated risk evaluations. But O’Brien and Ahmed actually found no difference in the groups’ performance.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It argues that research findings about the effects of posture on cognition are often misunderstood, as in the case of
O’Brien and Ahmed’s study.
B. It presents the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to critique the methods and results reported in previous studies of the
effects of posture on cognition.
C. It explains a significant problem in the emerging understanding of posture’s effects on cognition and how O’Brien
and Ahmed tried to solve that problem.
D. It discusses the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about the
effects of posture on cognition.
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In Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford causes
the protagonist Fanny Price to blush; her embarrassment grows when she suspects that he is aware of it. This
moment—in which Fanny not only infers Henry’s mental state through his gestures, but also infers that he is drawing
inferences about her mental state—illustrates what literary scholar George Butte calls “deep intersubjectivity,” a
technique for representing interactions between consciousnesses through which Austen’s novels derive much of their
social and psychological drama.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It states a claim about Austen’s skill at representing psychological complexity that is reinforced by an example
presented in the following sentence.
B. It advances an interpretation of an Austen protagonist who is contrasted with protagonists from other Austen
novels cited in the following sentence.
C. It describes a recurring theme in Austen’s novels that is the focus of a literary scholar’s analysis summarized in the
following sentence.
D. It provides a synopsis of an interaction in an Austen novel that illustrates a literary concept discussed in the
following sentence.
ID: 39857700
The following text is from Edith Wharton’s 1905 novel The House of Mirth. Lily Bart and a companion are walking
through a park. Lily had no real intimacy with nature, but she had a passion for the appropriate and could be keenly
sensitive to a scene which was the fitting background of her own sensations. The landscape outspread below her
seemed an enlargement of her present mood, and she found something of herself in its calmness, its breadth, its long
free reaches. On the nearer slopes the sugar-maples wavered like pyres of light; lower down was a massing of grey
orchards, and here and there the lingering green of an oak-grove.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It creates a detailed image of the physical setting of the scene.
B. It establishes that a character is experiencing an internal conflict.
C. It makes an assertion that the next sentence then expands on.
D. It illustrates an idea that is introduced in the previous sentence.
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Mathematician Claude Shannon is widely regarded as a foundational figure in information theory. His most
important paper, “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” published in 1948 when he was employed at Bell
Labs, utilized a concept called a “binary digit” (shortened to “bit”) to measure the amount of information in any
signal and determine the fastest rate at which information could be transmitted while still being reliably decipherable.
Robert Gallagher, one of Shannon’s colleagues, said that the bit was “[Shannon’s] discovery, and from it the whole
communications revolution has sprung.”
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It presents a theoretical concept, illustrates how the name of the concept has changed, and shows how the name
has entered common usage.
B. It introduces a respected researcher, describes an aspect of his work, and suggests why the work is historically
significant.
C. It names the company where an important mathematician worked, details the mathematician’s career at the
company, and provides an example of the recognition he received there.
D. It mentions a paper, offers a summary of the paper’s findings, and presents a researcher’s commentary on the
paper.
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A study by a team including finance professor Madhu Veeraraghavan suggests that exposure to sunshine during the
workday can lead to overly optimistic behavior. Using data spanning from 1994 to 2010 for a set of US companies,
the team compared over 29,000 annual earnings forecasts to the actual earnings later reported by those companies.
The team found that the greater the exposure to sunshine at work in the two weeks before a manager submitted an
earnings forecast, the more the manager’s forecast exceeded what the company actually earned that year.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. To summarize the results of the team’s analysis
B. To present a specific example that illustrates the study’s findings
C. To explain part of the methodology used in the team’s study
D. To call out a challenge the team faced in conducting its analysis
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The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to Sea.” John is a
child who lives in a town in the woods.
Perhaps ten-year-old John was puzzling to the folk there in the Florida woods for he was an imaginative child and
fond of day-dreams. The St. John River flowed a scarce three hundred feet from his back door. On its banks at this
point grow numerous palms, luxuriant magnolias and bay trees. On the bosom of the stream float millions of
delicately colored hyacinths. [John Redding] loved to wander down to the water’s edge, and, casting in dry twigs,
watch them sail away down stream to Jacksonville, the sea, the wide world and [he] wanted to follow them.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It provides an extended description of a location that John likes to visit.
B. It reveals that some residents of John’s town are confused by his behavior.
C. It illustrates the uniqueness of John’s imagination compared to the imaginations of other children.
D. It suggests that John longs to experience a larger life outside the Florida woods.
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A number of Indigenous politicians have been elected to the United States Congress since 2000 as members of the
country’s two established political parties. In Canada and several Latin American countries, on the other hand,
Indigenous people have formed their own political parties to advance candidates who will advocate for the interests
of their communities. This movement has been particularly successful in Ecuador, where Guadalupe Llori, a member
of the Indigenous party known as Pachakutik, was elected president of the National Assembly in 2021.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To trace the history of an Indigenous political movement and speculate about its future development
B. To argue that Indigenous politicians in the United States should form their own political party
C. To highlight two approaches to achieving political representation for Indigenous people
D. To consider how Indigenous politicians in the United States have influenced Indigenous politicians in Canada and
Latin America
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According to Indian economist and sociologist Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889–1968), the Eurocentric concepts that
informed early twentieth-century social scientific methods—for example, the idea that all social relations are
reducible to struggles between individuals—had little relevance for India. Making the social sciences more
responsive to Indians’ needs, Mukerjee argued, required constructing analytical categories informed by India’s
cultural and ecological circumstances. Mukerjee thus proposed the communalist “Indian village” as the ideal model
on which to base Indian economic and social policy.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The text recounts Mukerjee’s early training in the social scientific disciplines and then lists social policies whose
implementation Mukerjee oversaw.
B. The text mentions some of Mukerjee’s economic theories and then traces their impact on other Indian social
scientists of the twentieth century.
C. The text presents Mukerjee’s critique of the social sciences and then provides an example of his attempts to
address issues he identified in his critique.
D. The text explains an influential economic theory and then demonstrates how that theory was more important to
Mukerjee’s work than other social scientists have acknowledged.
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The following text is adapted from Indian Boyhood, a 1902 memoir by Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman), a Santee
Dakota writer. In the text, Ohiyesa recalls how the women in his tribe harvested maple syrup during his childhood.
Now the women began to test the trees—moving leisurely among them, axe in hand, and striking a single quick blow,
to see if the sap would appear. The trees, like people, have their individual characters; some were ready to yield up
their life-blood, while others were more reluctant. Now one of the birchen basins was set under each tree, and a
hardwood chip driven deep into the cut which the axe had made. From the corners of this chip—at first drop by drop,
then more freely—the sap trickled into the little dishes.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It portrays the range of personality traits displayed by the women as they work.
B. It foregrounds the beneficial relationship between humans and maple trees.
C. It demonstrates how human behavior can be influenced by the natural environment.
D. It elaborates on an aspect of the maple trees that the women evaluate.
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The following text is adapted from Jane Austen’s 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The speaker, Tom, is considering
staging a play at home with a group of his friends and family.
We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in
something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in choosing some play most perfectly
unexceptionable; and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in the elegant written
language of some respectable author than in chattering in words of our own.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To offer Tom’s assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people
B. To clarify that the play will not be performed in the manner Tom had originally intended
C. To elaborate on the idea that the people around Tom lack the skills to successfully stage a play
D. To assert that Tom believes the group performing the play will be able to successfully promote it
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Space scientists Anna-Lisa Paul, Stephen M. Elardo, and Robert Ferl planted seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana in
samples of lunar regolith—the surface material of the Moon—and, serving as a control group, in terrestrial soil. They
found that while all the seeds germinated, the roots of the regolith-grown plants were stunted compared with those in
the control group. Moreover, unlike the plants in the control group, the regolith-grown plants exhibited red
pigmentation, reduced leaf size, and inhibited growth rates—indicators of stress that were corroborated by
postharvest molecular analysis.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It describes an experiment that addressed an unresolved question about the extent to which lunar regolith
resembles terrestrial soils.
B. It compares two distinct methods of assessing indicators of stress in plants grown in a simulated lunar
environment.
C. It presents evidence in support of the hypothesis that seed germination in lunar habitats is an unattainable goal.
D. It discusses the findings of a study that evaluated the effects of exposing a plant species to lunar soil conditions.
ID: a70cbc53
Raymond Antrobus, an accomplished poet and writer of prose, recently released his debut spoken word poetry album,
The First Time I Wore Hearing Aids, in collaboration with producer Ian Brennan. The album contains both
autobiographical and reflective pieces combining Antrobus’s spoken words with Brennan’s fragmented audio
elements and pieces of music to convey how people who are deaf may experience sound, both its presence and
absence. Some critics suggest that the album questions the function of sound in the world, highlighting that the
experience of sound is multifaceted.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It introduces a collaborative spoken word poetry project, details the approach taken to produce the work, and then
provides an example of critique the album received upon release.
B. It mentions a collection of spoken word poems, distinguishes one poem as being an exemplar on the album, and
then offers a summary of the subject matter of the whole collection.
C. It summarizes the efforts to produce a collection of spoken word poems, presents biographies of two people who
worked on the album, and speculates about the meaning behind the poetry.
D. It connects two artists to the same spoken word poetry project, explains the extent of their collaboration on each
poem, and then provides an overview of the technique used to produce the work.
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The mimosa tree evolved in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on its seeds. In 1785, mimosa trees
were introduced to North America, far from any B. terrenus. But evolutionary links between predators and their prey
can persist across centuries and continents. Around 2001, B. terrenus was introduced in southeastern North America
near where botanist Shu-Mei Chang and colleagues had been monitoring mimosa trees. Within a year, 93 percent of
the trees had been attacked by the beetles.
Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It states the hypothesis that Chang and colleagues had set out to investigate using mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
B. It presents a generalization that is exemplified by the discussion of the mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
C. It provides context that clarifies why the species mentioned spread to new locations.
D. It offers an alternative explanation for the findings of Chang and colleagues.
ID: 9b01bcf4
The 1967 release of Harold Cruse’s book The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual isolated him from almost all other
scholars and activists of the American Civil Rights Movement—though many of those thinkers disagreed with each
other, he nonetheless found ways to disagree with them all. He thought that activists who believed that Black people
such as himself should culturally assimilate were naïve. But he also sharply criticized Black nationalists such as
Marcus Garvey who wanted to establish independent, self-contained Black economies and societies, even though
Cruse himself identified as a Black nationalist.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It describes a direction that Cruse felt the Civil Rights Movement ought to take.
B. It indicates that Cruse’s reputation as a persistent antagonist of other scholars is undeserved.
C. It describes a controversy that Cruse’s work caused within the Black nationalist movement.
D. It helps explain Cruse’s position with respect to the community of civil rights thinkers.
